Chapter 10: Developing Schoolwide Reading Apprenticeship Programs

Overview: This final chapter addresses the need to get an entire school on the side of reading apprenticeship, whether the goal is to get the program implemented in most classrooms or even to create an Academic Literacy course for students. Deciding that reading apprenticeships will benefit your students is great, but it's also necessary to "persuade a critical mass of other members of [your] school community" (170) that this is the way to go.

Themes and Messages

--"Whatever form the schoolwide program takes, the most important aspect of building a base is to develop support for teachings in incorporating reading apprenticeship into their classrooms. To achieve substantial and lasting classroom changes, ideas and practices that can transform teaching and learning need to take root in the hearts and minds of individual teachers." (171)

--Adolescents have the right to read, and it is the duty of teachers to help them realize this right.

--Getting parents, students, and other members of the greater school community involved in reading development can create broader commitment and support for a program.

Strategies

--One strategy I liked for getting students involved: "Involving students themselves in gathering information from potential future employers about job-related reading requirements could be an important method of developing authentic student support for a reading improvement program." (171)

--Gather as much data as possible to assess students' actual reading gaps. The important question to ask is What is the state of our students' reading?; I think this could certainly be a key question for school librarians in particular!

--The authors support encouraging all teachers to try reading apprenticeships and providing solid professional community and support around the idea, but they do not encourage mandatory reading apprenticeships. Rather, teachers should begin reading apprenticeships only when they believe they are a good fit for their classroom. (I think some of the professional development activities from Chapter 9 could win more teachers over!)

--To create a stronger professional community, the authors encourage having more teacher-development days, time during block scheduling, or banked time. The ideal faculty would have significant amounts of time to devote to a professional reading community.

--If you can win over the administration, they can be instrumental in finding money and resources, negotiating with parents, and defending teachers who are criticized by the school board or other officials.